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word of the day

The word for today is…

hiatus (noun) – 1. A gap or interruption in space, time, or continuity; a break.
2. (Linguistics) A slight pause that occurs when two immediately adjacent vowels in consecutive syllables are pronounced, as in reality and naive.
3. (Anatomy) A separation, aperture, fissure, or short passage in an organ or body part.

Source : The Free Dictionary

Etymology : Hiatus comes from hiare, a Latin verb meaning “to gape” or “to yawn,” and first appeared in English in the middle of the 16th century. Originally, the word referred to a gap or opening in something, such as a cave opening in a cliff. In the 18th century, British novelist Laurence Sterne used the word humorously in his novel Tristram Shandy, writing of “the hiatus in Phutatorius’s breeches.” These days, hiatus is usually used in a temporal sense to refer to a pause or interruption (as in a song), or a period during which an activity is temporarily suspended (such as a hiatus from teaching).

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